Legand of the Warrior Queen
by Inlovewithcomedy99
Summary: Whilst contemplating her possible suitors, King Fergus tells Merida a legend about a Scottish King and His Queen, who ruled a small kingdom in the highest part of the highlands. However the deeper she searches, the more she discovers that this 'legend' is more fact than story, and intertwines with her own family more than she possibly imagined.


**Having watched Brave for the first time ever this Christmas, I found myself falling in love with the story and its characters. Having looked for anything about any possible sequels, I decided to try and write my own.**

 **This takes place a few months after the events of the film, and whilst contemplating her possible suitors, King Fergus tells Merida a legend about a Scottish King and His Queen, who ruled a small kingdom in the highest part of the highlands. However the deeper she searches, the more she discovers that this 'legend' is more fact than story, and intertwines with her own family more than she possibly imagined.**

 **Disclaimer: As usual I own absolutely nothing and get absolutely nothing. Just for recreational purposes only.**

" _In the highest point of the Highlands, there was a kingdom, separate from the rest of the land. For many centuries, its Kings and Queens worked alongside our own leaders, securing a peaceful truce between our two great kingdoms. That was until the twelfth king, Bethan of the Allaway Clan, died and left his Kingdom to his only son, Aodh._

 _Aodh was not a bad king, far from it in fact. He led his people into a time of peace and prosperity. No man, no matter how poor he may be, starved in Aodh's kingdom. To rule at his side was his beautiful wife, Queen Gormlaith, and she bore him two sons and a daughter. Both the King and Queen adored their three children, and doted on them frequently. Many adored the King and his family, more than pleased with the way he ruled and were willing to lay down their lives to the fair and just King._

 _But like all kings, Aodh had his enemies and one enemy in particular who would go to great lengths to see that Aodh and his kingdom fell. The Melville tribe lived deep within the forest and were sworn enemies of the Allaways. On the night after Aodh and Gormlaith's youngest son's fifth birthday, the Melville stormed the castle, intending to overthrow the king and begin a new dynasty. Despite the surprise attack, Aodh was able to fight back with his own guard, driving the Melville away from the castle._

 _Their brave defence was in vain though, as a handful of the Melville's most elite managed to break through the defences undetected, and ignited a fire that soon engulfed most of the castle. Desperate to save his family, Aodh returned to the castle but it was too late._

 _The courageous Gormlaith had led the servants and her children to a secret passageway in the castle that led to a safe holding just outside the city walls. Realising that her youngest was still inside the castle, she had returned to retrieve him, only to be meet by the Melville warriors. His wife was taken by the Melville, and his babby boy perished in the flames._

 _Broken by the despair of losing both his wife and son, King Aodh led many search parties into the surrounding woods in an attempt to find his beloved, only to return each time empty handed and more heart broken. His grief for his son was only matched by the loss of his wife, and he soon fell apart without her by his side, his people following shortly afterwards. Slowly, his kingdom became cut off from the rest of Scotland, disappearing into the Glen, until its existence became nothing more than a myth and its people nothing more than a mirage. They say that even to this day, the King still wanders with his men, searching for his Queen and the land will remain hidden until she returns."_

"Ah come on dad. You're not telling me that an entire kingdom just disappeared off the face of the earth just because the Queen was taken!"

"Ye can mock all ye like, Merida, but nobody knows truly what happened to the Allaways." King Fergus sat astride his stead, facing his daughter who was also astride her own horse, Angus. "Many Kings have lost their kingdoms to far less."

"Aye, I know but," Merida argued, "didn't the King still have his two other children, you know, the other son and his daughter. Surly he wouldn't neglect them when they're all he has left?"

Fergus looked solemnly at Merida. "Grief makes a man do things he wouldn't normally do, and they're not always the best decisions."

"So was that you're motive then?" Merida smirked. "To bring me up here to recount an old story in the hope that I might take something away from it?"

"I do not have a motive. Can a father not spend some quality time with his only daughter without having a motive?" He gave her a look of mock offense, which caused her to burst out laughing. "And anyway, legends are lessons that we learn from."

Merida began to laugh harder, and at her father's confused look, explained, "You're beginning to sound like mum!" to which Fergus joined in with her laughing. "Ah well," He chuckled, "Perhaps I should insist on being called 'Queen Fergus' instead."

Merida let out an unladylike snort of laughter and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Ever since the whole 'bear incidence' several months back, the whole DunBroch family had become closer than ever and they were generally happier than they had been in a very long time. Despite this, they still had several problems that loomed over them like a dark cloud, but they were working on it.

"So tell me then," Merida said once she recovered from her laughter. "What is yer reason for bringing me up here?"

The King instantly sobered and sighed, "Yer mother and I are worried…"

"Ah so there was a motive."

"Look will ye just listen, Merida. We know you feel as though ye need to choose a suitor quickly, especially after what happened last time, but we just don't want ye to rush into anything that you'll regret later on."

"I have a duty to for fill." Merida whispered, "I know that mum has changed, but so have I. Because of my inability to step up and face my responsibility I nearly caused another war and got mum killed. I don't intend to rush into anything, but I know that I will eventually have to make a choice."

Fergus gave her a fond smile, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. "Ah, my wee babby girl has grown up."

"Shut up." Merida laughed, manoeuvring her horse, Angus, so that she could elbow her father in the side. "Come on, I'll race ye." And she spurred Angus on, Fergus following shortly afterwards laughing as well.

They continued to race until the tall imposing structure of their castle home was insight. Both slowed their horses down, not quite ready to return to the hustle and bustle of everyday life and wanting to savour the tranquillity of the afternoon for a bit lingered.

"So what was the morale to the story then?" Merida asked, breaking the silence between them.

"Well that's up to whoever hears the tale." He said, a smirk teasing the corners of his mouth. "Some say that it shows that love and duty can never go together, and others say that you cannot have one without the other. Ultimately it is a question of heart or head; you'll have to decide for yourself though."

Merida's forehead creased as she contemplated what he had said. "Come on," Fergus' voice brought her back to reality. "Yer mother will be waiting."

 **I'd just like to say that although I absolutely adore Scotland and anything Scottish, I am terrible at writing in a Scot's accent so please forgive me and just try and use your imagination when reading it. Also I don't know many Scottish names, so I had to Google them. So anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please leave me a review to tell me what you thought and whether or not I should continue this.**


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